Thursday, November 13, 2014

Calling Oxford Graduates and Employees

The Altar in the St Thomas More Chapel
set up for the EF Mass.

I am preparing a petition requesting permission for a Traditional Requiem in Oxford University's Catholic Chaplaincy. As an 'occasional celebration' this need not be requested by a 'stable group', but by a group of people interested in the specific occasion. As a requiem for deceased members and employees of the University, I take the view that the petition can be signed by anyone who now or at any time has formed part of the community the Chaplaincy exists to serve. It is our contemporaries and predecessors for whose souls we would like to see intercession made, whether we can personally be present at the Mass or not.

I presented a similar petition just over a year ago, and the then Chaplain agreed to allow such a Requiem. It took place, in the St Thomas More Chapel in the Chaplaincy, on All Souls Day 2013; it was well attended and seemed to be regarded by everyone as a great success. It would seem that for it to be repeated a formal request under the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum is again necessary. It would made sense for such a Requiem to be an annual event.

No other Masses in the Extraordinary Form take place at the Oxford Chaplaincy, in contrast to the Catholic Chaplaincy in Cambridge, where weekly EF Masses are celebrated in the Chaplaincy as well as elsewhere in the town.

Accordingly, I would ask any Catholic reading this, who has studied (or is studying) in Oxford or has been employed (or is employed) in some capacity in the Collegiate University or its related institutions, who can support this request, to email

info@lms.org.uk
with 'Oxford Chaplaincy' in the subject line. On the petition I would like to note the nature of your association with the University and current postal address, just to demonstrate that you are real people; current students need only note their colleges. Details from this petition will be used for no purpose other than to keep you informed of the progress of the request.